I have been asked if I and the union believe that A&E Support Staff are ‘Front-line’.
This was after we complained about a trial being run with A&E Support Staff working with Paramedics. We were prepared to lodge a dispute if the trial was not stopped.
The trial has been stopped
The answer, to be very clear, is that A&E Support Staff are Front-Line. There will be no argument from me or the union over that.
In fact Unison believes all staff within London Ambulance Service are front line. Everyone contributes to patient care, whatever they do.
The question was asked of me because I expect some staff (particularly the staff who volunteered for the trial) thought that we opposed the running of it on the basis that we believed that the opposite was true.
That is not, and was never, the issue.
The issue (and this is important)Â is that in this time of financial pressure, our Service, along with a number of other Services it has to be said, are willing to treat some Front-Line staff differently from others.
Not just treat them differently throughout the period of financial pressure until funding is restored, but treat them differently for ever.
It has to be accepted that the role of A&E Support has been difficult since the grade was jointly agreed with management. That said, however, it was never brought in so that staff would stay on Band 3 while at the same time, in our view, undermining the spirit of Agenda for Change.
Unison played a major part in getting the role of A&E Support into the Service. We acted quickly to safeguard the jobs of Patient Transport Staff who had lost their contract to private companies at that time and keep them within the LAS.
Of course at that time we still had Technicians (or rather the role of technicians in the National Handbook) and there was a clear career pathway for A&E Support staff to progress.
In fact it was a clear pathway from Patient Transport up to A&E Support, on to Technician and then Paramedic.
A stepping stone for staff.
When the role of Technician was withdrawn (on a national level), that is when the problem started.Â
A&E Support staff were stuck! Couldn’t move forward, couldn’t go back.
So by doing the right thing, in good faith, in the past, both management and the union have been confronted with, through no fault of our own, a problem in the present.
The gap between A&E Support and Paramedic is now huge (both in clinical and Pay Band terms)Â and a lot of staff find it impossible to bridge that gap.
Add to that the lack of opportunity because of the millions of pounds of funding being withdrawn from the Service, and you can see why we have a problem.
Something had to give.
Simply putting A&E Support Staff on an ambulance with a Paramedic is not the answer though. That is unless it is accompanied with a proper agreed structure to allow staff to move up the pay spines and move between Agenda for Change Pay Bands.
That is not the case at this moment.Â
I understand that pay is not always everything, and that job satisfaction plays a vital role, however, in my opinion, the outcome of the trial (as it stood) would have seen a large group of staff being locked into Band 3, with the key thrown away, while being asked to do a job that is currently done at Band 4 and Band 5 level.
This is exploitation, not career progression.
What sort of Service do we want? Even in times of economic hardship surely we should give hope for the future?
Unison supports the apprenticeship approach.
A&E Support Staff working with a Paramedic should be similar to an apprentice in industry. Work with a paramedic and get training on and off the job.
An apprentice with a clear view of the future and a clear understanding of where they will be (regarding pay and pay bands) at the end of the apprenticeship (however long that may be, depending on what is agreed).
There are some things that need to be finalised but that said, I am cautiously optimistic about the Apprentice Paramedic Programme that is being introduced within the Service.
Although the tuition fee issue is disappointing (we will continue to highlight this and hopefully influence a change), this is a step forward at this time and may well be the basis for a proper career progression agreement for A&E Support Staff that want it.
Unison Senior Representatives have worked hard with management over this in a difficult political and financial environment, and I do really hope it is the start of positive change and opportunity in our Service.
It is early days of course. We hope to have proper support mechanisms in place for staff: reasonable study time agreements: financial advice/support: mentoring commitments etc, but, stagnation of a vital ambulance role is not an option for us.
I wouldn’t say that the Apprentice Paramedic Programme is the be all and end all within the operational part of our Service, but, in the face of a shrinking ( some would say sinking) National Health Service, an anti Public Sector Coalition and aggressive private ambulance companies, it may well turn out to be a life jacket for a lot of staff.
We still believe that A&E Support Staff deserve better recognition and reward and will continue to pursue that.Â
We have a responsibility to safeguard the professional integrity of all staff so that we can protect our national agreements on pay, and not allow a race to the bottom.
So just to repeat for clarity: we are not against A&E Support staff working with a paramedic in principle but, as I have stated, it has to be within agreed structures and outcomes.
We also do not oppose a trial in principle as long as it is conducted under jointly agreed Terms of Reference with a jointly agreed evaluation.
Any trial, however, cannot be seen, or conducted, in isolation of career and pay band progression.
We will meet with management over this very soon and once again will press for what we believe is right for staff, the Service, and, importantly, the patient and people of London.
We are all entitled to a future.
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 Information of all issues can be found elsewhere on our website.
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Eric Roberts
Branch Secretary.
